Who run the pro wrestling world?! Girls!!
Brandi Rhodes is the Chief Brand Officer of All Elite Wrestling & first entrant in the AEW Dynamite Deadly Draw.
But after being part of the initial announcement about the Women's tag team cup tournament, Brandi shut me down on the details when we chatted via Zoom on Friday.
"Wednesday that’s all going to be crystal clear. We’re going to explain how the teams come together and then you might see a team or two come together," she explains.
As for Brandi's new sister, Allie? "There is the factor that we could maybe not be together in the tournament, since that hasn’t been clear. So we will also see on Wednesday with the rules what that means for the Nightmare Sisters."
I had to ask the former WAGS: Atlanta star why now is the right time to highlight AEW's Women's division.
"I’m hoping that this will shed light on a lot of things, especially with some of the women that we already have, who are very strong competitors and bring great energy and great characters to the ring, as well as maybe some that you haven’t seen or maybe haven’t seen in awhile."
Women are currently striving to change pro wrestling in many ways, as evidenced by the recent #SpeakingOut movement on social media. Two AEW wrestlers were implicated.
"That was kind of a first run for us, in a scenario like that. So a lot of people had hands on deck for that. There was a lot of very open-minded discussion on how we should handle things," Brandi explains.
AEW dished out a one-month suspension and sent another problematic talent to rehab.
"I had a conversation with a lot of our women after that and just said, 'Hey I’m glad that this happened so that you know these are the people that you come to if you ever have any kind of issue or concern, or maybe feel a certain way. You’ve got all these resources available to you.'
"It’s nice in wrestling to hear that, because in the past there was none of that," Brandi recalls.
Just because her industry has cleaned up its act doesn't mean social media has. I had to ask Brandi about fans trying to slide into her and husband Cody Rhodes' DMs.
"There’s a limit to what I can handle of people sending me pictures of their genitalia. So I’m not open publicly to DMs anymore," she reveals, laughing.
Brandi's not worried about her hubby of seven years either, because he's not much of a phone guy. "Shoot all your shots, but he’s probably not going to see them," Brandi challenges playfully.
This CBO plays many roles in the company she helped create, but on-camera host is one of her favorites. Her digital series 'A Shot of Brandi,' is one of the most popular on AEW's YouTube channel.
Getting in the kitchen with AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is a highlight.
"Some days he’s really chatty. Some days he’s not. Some days he’s drinking. Some days he’s not. The way that he came into that kitchen and just took the whole thing over was just so unexpected."
That's not the only surprise, as Brandi looks back at the last few years. "It just never really occurred to me that wrestling was going to be a constant in my life still, because it seemed like that chapter was over."
But thank goodness it wasn't!
Of AEW's incredible success and Brandi's role in it she says, "It’s almost like the wrestling world created this opportunity, because I think they got tired of not being able to have what they wanted to have.
"This opportunity, when it presented itself, it just became something surreal but it was right there on the cusp of happening, and then here were are and it’s going really, really well."
Watch AEW Dynamite Wednesdays at 8pm/E on TNT!